For all federal construction contracts totaling $500,000 or more, labor and materials included, the Fair Pay Act seeks to hold contractors accountable for following the 14 federal labor and employment laws and any equivalent State laws by forcing them to disclose any violations from the previous 3 years. The 14 labor laws are:

the Fair Labor Standards Act;

the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970;

the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act;

the National Labor Relations Act;

40 U.S.C. chapter 31, subchapter IV, also known as the Davis-Bacon Act;

41 U.S.C. chapter 67, also known as the Service Contract Act;

Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965 (Equal Employment Opportunity);

Executive Order 13658 of February 12, 2014 (Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors)

Effective October 25, 2016, federal agencies will have the ability to disqualify contractors if they have violated any of 14 laws. The new rule is over 500 pages long and a real thrill of a read (you can read it in its entirety here), but the change is mostly in the enforcing of the previous laws, rather than adding any new laws. The rule will be slowly rolled out in phases, giving prime contractors and subcontractors a chance to gather all the appropriate information and ease into the new rules.

The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) have issued a statement, referring to the new rule as “blacklisting,” claiming the rule “will increase costs for taxpayers, threaten the livelihood of millions of Americans who work for responsible federal contractors and cripple the federal procurement process with needless uncertainty, delays and litigation.”

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), much like the ABC, fears the rule may scare away many construction firms due to the possibly “subjective nature” of disqualifying contractors. An agency labor compliance advisor (ACLA) position was created by the new order and the advisor will be responsible for reviewing companies’ labor violations and deciding whether or not they are qualified. The AGC made clear, in a press release, that they value honest companies and would not honest firms competing against a company that saves money by cutting corners, but they don’t want to see qualified contractors be blacklisted without clear cut guidelines.

In the same press release, the CEO of AGC explained further, “While there are many flaws with this new measure, one of its biggest is that it gives federal officials enormous discretion to decide which firms should be singled out for punishment. For example, it allows a federal contracting official to give greater weight to the same safety violations depending on which firm was accused of committing them. Such subjective criteria opens the door to punishing federal contractors based on which political, social or labor causes they support, instead of their safety performance or treatment of workers.”

While some have seen the new laws as a hindrance, others are seeing opportunity. James Boland, the president of the International Union of Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers, stated in a press release, “This country is founded on the principle of fairness, and the Order and its implementing regulations weave that basic principle into federal contracting and procurement processes. The Fair Pay and Safe Workplace regulations will create a mechanism for bad actors to right their wrongs, and for employees to get the fair pay they worked hard for.”

By disqualifying contractors who may not have been following the rules in the past, Boland argues that employees will finally getting the fair pay that they deserve. It also opens the doors for contractors who are following the rules to win more bids.

Managing careers in construction is something that both employees and employers struggle with. For employers, trying to balance overhead costs and keeping talent is an age old challenge. For many employees, there are a ton of uncertainties, like consistency of work and finding the right company for their skills and interests. To help those in the construction industry to make better career decisions, CONEXPO-CON/AGG and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) have released an e-book titled The Ultimate Construction Career Guide.

If you’re like me, you get excited when a character on TV show or movie works in the construction industry. With all of the characters that I’ve met in the industry over the years, you’d think there would be more of them blessing the screen. Nevertheless, I’ve compiled my list of favorite construction workers from TV or movies.

After a round of nominations, the stage has been set for the 5th annual Best Construction Podcast Competition presented by Construction Junkie. This year we have several familiar faces, as well as a couple new ones.

Even with the comprehensive collaborative environment that project management software, like Procore, provide, email is still a necessary evil for even the most technologically advanced contractor. Recently Procore announced new integrations with one of the biggest email providers, Microsoft Outlook, to help reduce redundancies and get all your information into one place.

The lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedure has been one of the critical elements of electrical safety training on construction sites for a decade. Generally, it’s pretty simple: if you need to work on an energized circuit or piece of equipment, shut down the breaker, put a lock on it so no one can turn it back on, and place a tag on it with your information. OSHA is considering updating the standard now and is currently requesting information from interested parties.

[sponsored] In a world where construction is desperately seeking young people to fill the gaps of an aging workforce, it seems pretty obvious that someone should have come up with a way to incorporate video games into the construction process. Well, thanks to Buildfore’s CtrlWiz, someone finally has, and it allows users to manipulate 3D models within Navisworks with an Xbox controller.

As the United States just recently suffered another tragic and deadly construction incident involving civilians after a crane collapsed in Seattle over the weekend, we’re reminded that the bridge collapse on FIU’s campus in Miami in early 2018 still has many unanswered questions.

There’s no doubt that pop culture shapes the way people think, especially when it comes to interest in certain activities. The narrative for the past few years in the construction industry has been that there is a workforce shortage…that young people aren’t interested in working in construction. It’s no secret that kids love cartoons, though.

On Thursday, April 18th, the New York City Council passed what they are calling “NYC’s Green New Deal,” which legislators hope will greatly reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. In order to achieve those results, several mandates included in the legislation will have major effects on the construction and real estate industries.

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